Years ago I had an intern come and work for me from my alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, during the January term when the campus shut down. Rachel Atkinson was an art major and came daily to my studio to help me with my creative projects. Because her father owned a thriving graphic design business, she wanted to share some of his resources and expertise with me. One day she brought in a carton of resumes he’d received for a job posting. This was in the early 90’s when everything was hard copy.

I was wowed by the variety of styles, formats and sophistication the applicants demonstrated. You could immediately toss aside 1/2 the pile for lack of originality.

Which leads me to my friend and client Malene Barnett who recently purchased and renovated a building in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn. That’s a fearless enough feat to accomplish. But what really knocked my socks off was the email I received from Malene advertising the rental of her freshly minted apartment offering.

No Craigslist.com for this extraordinary woman. She created an 8-page pdf  (cover image above) of her creation placing her property in an elite category and immediately qualifying her prospects. Let me know if you’re interested and I’d be happy to connect you to Malene. By the way, breaking the mold of the repetitive red brick facades is another measure of Malene’s strength of character and determination.

The message here: Take the risk to be bold, break the rules and get noticed. Might just get you a tenant or a job.